MotoGP, Jack Miller shuts down the naysayers with a double win

It is exactly seven years since a young Australian by the name of Jack Miller “leapfrogged” his way from Moto3 directly to MotoGP, landing on Lucio Cecchinello’s team with a Honda Open and taken under the protective wing of Cal Crutchlow, now his great friend.

The Australian has heard it all over these seven years, some saying that he came to MotoGP too quickly, without ever competing in Moto2. And Jack isn’t even the first to make such a leapfrog, as fellow countryman Garry McCoy also moved up from 125 directly to the 500 class. Things were different back then, sure, but the results speak for themselves.

And the same goes for Jack Miller, as Thriller is once again proving that Honda’s call back in 2015 wasn’t as impetuous as some thought. It’s taken him a while, OK, but Jack has continued to work hard, convinced he’s made the right choice.

Jack turns the tables

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Over the years, Jack has learned to live with the criticisms about his move from Moto3 (not even as champion, but as runner-up to Alex Marquez) to MotoGP, keeping it all inside and thinking ahead to the day he would silence the sceptics.

His win at Assen in 2016, albeit in strange conditions (wet and then dry, just like on Sunday at Le Mans), looked to be a launch pad to something big but it was then six years before he scored his next victory. Six years in which Thriller has experienced all the highs and lows of a young rider starting out in MotoGP.

But it was the nine podiums he amassed between 2019 and 2020 that transformed Thriller from a very fast but inconsistent rider to a mature rider who, with the wins at Le Mans and Jerez, has shaken off all the gossip mongers in one fell swoop.

And this transformation has earned him an ongoing place on the factory Ducati team, the Ducati-Australia pairing set to continue.

Translated by Heather Watson

MotoGP, official: Ducati and Jack Miller extend their agreement